German plane airlifts 58 Canadians from Sudan, as Canadian plane readies for more

By Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press on April 24, 2023.

OTTAWA – A German plane airlifted dozens of Canadians out of Sudan Monday and a Canadian C-17 transport plane in the region is on standby to help more escape the country as the conflict in the East African country escalates.

Global Affairs Canada has provided very little information on efforts to get Canadian citizens, or even its own staff, out of Sudan. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at a photo-op with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Ottawa, provided a limited update Monday afternoon.

“I just heard earlier today that a German plane lifted off from Khartoum with one German citizen on it and 58 Canadian citizens,” he said Monday.

“We have a C-17 in the region too, and we will be airlifting as well.”

Trudeau added that the recent airlift is an example of great co-operation between Canada and Germany.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said earlier on Monday that Canada was working with “like-minded countries” to help citizens who remain in Sudan flee the country as an armed conflict there escalates.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured in just 10 days after power-sharing negotiations between the country’s armed forces and its paramilitary troops rapidly deteriorated.

Joly said Global Affairs Canada is trying to contact all Canadians in Sudan who have registered with the government, and she repeated calls for anyone who hasn’t yet done so to get in touch immediately.

Almost 1,600 Canadians were formally registered in Sudan as of Saturday, but experts believe the number of Canadians in the country is likely much higher.

Canada suspended consular services in the country Sunday, saying Canadian diplomats would “temporarily work from a safe location outside the country” while still trying to help citizens in Sudan.

While Ottawa has not explained how its diplomats left Sudan, the New York Times reported Sunday that U.S. special forces evacuated six Canadian diplomats, along with 70 American diplomats and some from other countries.

The BBC, meanwhile, reported Canadians were among a group evacuated by sea to Saudi Arabia.

Global Affairs Canada has yet to answer questions sent Sunday morning about those reports.

Ottawa is not evacuating its locally hired Sudanese staff, and says it is looking at all possible options to support them.

As of August 2022, the Khartoum embassy had six Canadian staff and 12 who were locally hired, according to data filed by the department with a Senate committee.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.

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